


the moments in between

by nerdiests



Series: it was always you [6]
Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: (there's no technically about it this is just pure war/thom fluff lads), Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), M/M, Technically OC-Centric, i'm soft for these boys and that's it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24628186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nerdiests/pseuds/nerdiests
Summary: those quiet times before the next adventure... they're to be cherished.
Relationships: Warriors (Linked Universe)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: it was always you [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1535885
Comments: 11
Kudos: 42





	the moments in between

**Author's Note:**

> HA
> 
> i am so proud of this one! i haven't actively finished a fic since march, but here i am, back with the domestic fluff that i crave and the world didn't ask for but i wrote anyways, lmao. but yes! a _huge_ thank you to my best friend silona for listening to me ramble about this in intermittent bunches of time!! i love you very much!!
> 
> now, without further ado! domestic fluff galore! >:3c
> 
> EDIT: [FANART](https://dripping-moonlight.tumblr.com/post/621068325844385792/nerdiests-im-so-sorry-if-this-isnt-how-you) AAAAAAAAAAA

In all honesty, there’s nothing better in the world than waking up next to the person you love most in your life. Sure, some people might say that other things rate higher (like an entire room filled with chocolate chip cookies, for example), but to Warriors? Waking up in his home with his boyfriend curled up in bed next to him was nirvana. With a content sigh, Warriors snuggled a bit more into the blankets as Thom snored next to him, arms sprawled out like a starfish. It was cute, and Warriors had never been happier that Thom had closed the bakery for the morning.

“Mmmm… Today’s going to be great,” Warriors murmured to himself, looking up at the ceiling before his eyes fluttered shut again and he drifted off. It felt like only a moment passed before he felt someone lightly shaking his shoulder. Groggily, Warriors groaned as he attempted to blink the sleep out of his eyes. There was a light chuckle to his left, and an arm snuck around his waist. 

“...Thom?” Warriors said sleepily, looking over his shoulder to see Thom’s soft smile. 

“Morning, pumpkin,” Thom replied, voice just as sleep-laced as Warriors’ own was. His hair was a bit messy, falling down one of his shoulders as Thom squinted slightly, vision impaired without his glasses. Warriors grinned dopily, rolling onto his other side and tucking Thom’s hair behind his ear. 

“Mornin’,” Warriors said, before giving Thom a quick peck on the lips. Thom laughed, shoving him away slightly. 

“You have  _ morning breath, _ ” Thom complained. Warriors laughed at that, as Thom unraveled himself from their blankets and started to go through the motions of getting ready in the morning. 

The two weaved around one another as they went through with their respective routines - Thom was picking out his outfit for the day while Warriors got ready in the bathroom. It wasn’t long before Warriors walked out of the bathroom in his chosen outfit for the day with perfectly done hair. Thom grinned at him as Warriors peered over his shoulder at the three shirts laid out on the bed. 

“I’m not sure which one to wear today,” Thom said half to himself. Warriors hummed appraisingly, giving each shirt a glance. All three were vaguely similar, but Warriors gestured at the second shirt - a light blue button-up - after a moment of thought. Thom nodded back, grabbing a pair of pants from where they laid on the bed and headed into the bathroom to get ready himself. In the quiet of their shared bedroom, Warriors took a few moments to situate his scarf and make any last minute adjustments to his current ensemble. Even if Warriors wasn’t doing anything particularly fancy today, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t look  _ nice. _

“Well, now I feel underdressed,” Thom commented. Warriors spun around and locked eyes with Thom, who was leaning on the bathroom door frame. 

“You’re dressed just right. All we’re doing is having breakfast with the others before the nine of us go on our way,” Warriors replied as Thom walked over to him, putting his chin on Warriors’ head and wrapping his arms around him in a hug. 

“And how do I hate that you can’t stay longer,” Thom said as Warriors grumbled halfheartedly about his hair. His boyfriend was more important than being  _ presentable _ . 

“You know I do too, hon. But Zelda had something I needed to deliver the next time I was in Hyrule, so we need to do that before we switch to someone else’s,” Warriors said, sighing as he spoke. Both of them wished they had more time with the other. At least it was better than the war had been.

“I know, I know. At least we have now. And until breakfast is done,” Thom replied, squeezing Warriors for a second before letting go and heading to the door. 

“But for now… I’ll get started on breakfast, and you can go and retrieve the other Links, yes?” Warriors nodded as Thom opened the door, Warriors following quickly behind him. 

While Warriors made for where he’d left his boots the previous evening, Thom looked at the ingredients in his personal pantry with a calculating eye. There were a multitude of options - bacon was a must-have, but there were so many other things he could add to breakfast. Warriors glanced over at Thom as he opened up the door leading to the staircase. 

“I’d go for muffins!” Warriors called out, hearing Thom’s considering hum as Warriors closed the door behind him. Oh, he really was hoping for muffins. 

* * *

The walk over to the town’s inn wasn’t long at all, thankfully. Warriors waved at his neighbors as he passed, giving a few scattered hellos and how-do-you-dos as he made his way to the inn, picking up an apple from one of the scattered stalls in the street for a few rupees to munch on while he walked. And his walk was finished just as his apple was, and after tossing the apple core into a nearby bin, Warriors opened the inn door to a ruckus. 

The innkeep gave Warriors a tired grin, before letting out a heavy sigh. Without so much as a word, he pointed at one of the corner tables, where the rest of the Links were seated. He could very clearly see the grin on Twilight’s face as cards flew through the air and Legend screamed in frustration. Raising a curious eyebrow, Warriors walked over, with only Time and Hyrule noticing his approach. 

“You’re a filthy  _ cheater _ , Twilight!” Legend cried, slamming his hands onto the table. Twilight’s grin only grew wider. Warriors locked eyes with Time, who only sighed heavily at Warriors’ inquiring eyebrow. 

“Maybe you’re just no good at go fish,” Twilight replied, trying and failing at keeping his laughter quiet. Legend opened his mouth to speak again when Hyrule nudged him. 

“I think we need to wrap the game up anyways,” Hyrule said, pointing at Warriors. He waved as the six people that  _ hadn’t _ noticed him standing there took a double-take. 

“When did you get here?” Wind asked, hopping out of his chair as he spoke. 

“A few minutes ago. Thom’s getting started on breakfast, so I wanted to come and get y’all so we could eat before we head out,” Warriors replied. He gave it a few moments as what he said sunk in, before all eight of them had varying degrees of reactions. Wind, Wild, and Hyrule all immediately stood up and started walking quickly (or running, in Wild’s case) back to their rooms. Four reached for his pack at his side, while Sky sat up straighter in his seat. Legend’s fuming decreased while Twilight put up his cards and Time headed over to the innkeep, presumably to pay for their lodgings and apologize for the ruckus they’d caused during their game of go fish. Warriors chuckled to himself as Wind raced back in, pack thrown haphazardly over one shoulder. 

“I’m ready to go let’s  _ go! _ ” he cheered, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Warriors chuckled to himself as Wild and Hyrule filed in not long after Wind did, and the others grabbed their bags from where they’d left them at their table. The perks of travelling with a group of heroes? They were almost always ready to go at a moment’s notice. It paid to be prepared. 

In no time at all, the group of nine was leaving the inn - Warriors noticed the apologetic looks that both Time and Sky gave the innkeep as they left - and headed back to his and Thom’s home. Hopefully the muffins were done at this point. Wind chattered excitedly about the card games he’d stayed up late playing with Wild, Four, and Hyrule the night before as they walked, with the occasional comments from Twilight about the book he’d been reading or the embroidery project Legend had made some progress on. To be fair, Warriors might’ve spent most of his evening talking with Thom after the rest of the Links had left, keeping his hands busy with his newest knitting project. But they didn’t need to know that. 

Either way, they arrived at the bakery in short order, and they filed up the stairs to the apartment quickly. All of them were excited to get to eat - they’d stayed in Warriors and Thom’s small town enough times to get excited to have any of Thom’s treats. It really was a pity that Thom couldn’t send any baked goods with his letters. 

“We’re here, hon!” Warriors called as he opened the door. From the kitchen, Thom hummed his acknowledgement as their group filed inside and started heading for the dining room. At least they’d set out the extra chairs last night and forgot to put them up when they had retreated to their bedroom for the night. 

“Muffins’re in the oven, the eggs’ll be done soon. Go ahead and sit down,” Thom said absentmindedly, not taking his eyes off the stovetop. A wise decision. 

“Muffins?” A chorus of voices spoke up, some more excited than others. Wild looked over at the oven with clear interest, while Wind’s head poked out from the dining room with a grin on his face. 

“My idea,” Warriors spoke up. Twilight slung an arm around his shoulders with a bright grin. 

“And a wonderful one at that,” he said. Legend came up on his other side and nudged him with an elbow to the side. 

“I knew we kept you around for a reason,” Legend joked, getting both Hyrule and Wind to start laughing.

“I thought it was my battle skills or my roguishly good looks, not my boyfriend’s fantastic baking,” Warriors replied in an equally joking tone. The laughs grew louder. 

“Just for the baking, Warriors,” Legend said. Wild and Twilight joined the laughing as Thom turned around, holding a pan filled with scrambled eggs. 

“If you’ve got any kind of looks, it’s the scruffy type,” Thom cut in teasingly. At that, Four choked on the air as the rest of the group practically  _ howled _ with laughter and Warriors pouted. The remaining Links that weren’t in the dining room made their way over there, but Warriors hung around in the kitchen, just in case Thom needed a second set of hands.

“I thought you  _ loved me _ ,” Warriors said jokingly. Thom laughed as he moved the eggs from the pan to the platter filled with eggs and put the pan in the sink to be washed later that day. Not wanting to be in the way, Warriors took a few steps left as Thom ducked by before putting a stack of plates in his outstretched arms. 

“The silverware is already out, I just forgot to set out the plates. Do you mind, pumpkin?” Thom asked, already whirling around to grab the platter of eggs to make room for the almost-done muffins. 

“Got it, hon,” Warriors replied, heading out into the dining room with the stack of plates balanced carefully in his arms. Ten plates in one stack would be a recipe for disaster if he didn’t carry them with care - plus most of their tableware had been a housewarming gift from his Zelda, so Warriors would be extremely upset if he dropped any of them. Based on the way that Twilight’s eyes boggled when he walked into the dining room, though, he wouldn’t be carrying all of them much longer.

“ _ Farore _ , why are you carrying all the plates? Lemme help with that,” Twilight said as he stood up and took half the stack in almost one motion. Warriors laughed a bit, letting himself relax a bit. Five plates is  _ nothing _ compared to ten. 

“Thanks, Twilight - these were part of a housewarming gift, and I’d hate to break them,” Warriors said, walking over to the table and starting to set out plates in front of the set out chairs. Twilight joined him after a moment, and the chatter around them was very welcome. Wind’s excitement over muffins was contagious, it seemed. So the cheer that went up when Thom walked in with a platter covered in muffins wasn’t a surprise. 

“Heh, didn’t think my chocolate muffins would get this many cheers,” Thom chuckled, setting the muffins down before going and getting the other platter of eggs and bacon. Miraculously, the group of heroes held off from eating any of the muffins until the other platter of food had been set down and Thom had taken his seat next to Warriors. The  _ moment _ that Thom sat down, the heroes descended on the food like a committee of vultures, with nothing but scraps remaining once each hero had grabbed their fill of food for the morning. Thom gave Warriors a meaningful glance as Warriors shrugged. What? Thom’s food was good and they were all hungry.

Unsurprisingly, the people that talked the most while they ate were Thom, Time, Four, and Warriors - and Warriors was only talking because they were discussing their plans for the delivery they were going to be making relatively soon. The other six people at their dining table were fully invested in their meals, not the light conversation going on. Thom found it highly amusing. To Warriors, it was just another Tuesday. 

The meal was over too quickly, in Warriors’ expert opinion. He wanted to spend more time with his boyfriend, but alas. The duties of a hero are never really over.  _ Thankfully _ , everyone’s bags were already packed up, so the walk out of their apartment and to the entrance to the bakery was a short one filled with thank yous and assurances of shared recipes the next time the group came to town. Standing just outside the front door of the bakery, Warriors gave Thom a tight hug as the rest of the Links stood behind him and some of their neighbors watched on curiously.

“I’ll miss you,” Warriors murmured, arms slung around Thom’s neck. Thom squeezed his arms around Warriors’ waist a bit tighter as he hummed his reply. A quiet “aww” could be heard somewhere on the street, but Warriors couldn’t care less at the moment. He wished that this moment could last forever, that he didn’t have to leave. But he did, and so he let go. Right as he was about to turn around, though, Thom caught his wrist. 

“Wait a second…” Thom said, catching Warriors off-guard. 

“Yeah?” Warriors asked, tilting his head ever so slightly. To his surprise, Thom’s hand moved to cup one of Warriors’ cheeks in his hand as Thom brushed a thumb over his cheek. Almost humming to himself, Thom smiled a bit. 

“There’s a little something on your face,” he said, leaning forward. Warriors’ brow furrowed, but it wasn’t visible very long as Thom kissed him soundly. There were a few cheers around the street, one of which sounded remarkably like Twilight, and as Thom moved away, Warriors was left with a very red face and an inability to think straight. With a very soft shove, Thom pushed him towards the group of heroes with a smile on his face. 

“Now get going, my hero. You’ve got a job to do, and I’ll be here when you get back,” Thom said. Wordlessly, Warriors nodded, before making some sort of shapeless gesture for the rest of the group to follow after him. 

“You’re going the wrong way,” Thom called after a second or two of walking. Warriors immediately turned around, and  _ then _ the heroes were on their way. 

**Author's Note:**

> fun fact of the day: a group of vultures is called a committee, a flock of vultures in flight is called a kettle, and a group of vultures doing as they are wont to do is called a maul! the things you learn for accuracy, haha!
> 
> and feel free to check out my [tumblr](http://nerdiests.tumblr.com) if you'd like! :D


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